It was one of those days when sometimes, for no apparent reason anything goes right. The maids remained absent without any prior notice and while I was struggling precariously with manic morning demands, the neighbour came wearing sad expression of helplessness and pleaded me to baby-sit her two years old boy for half an hour. Her highness, conveniently returned at lunch time smiling hideously (I secretly wished at that very moment that a few murders were legally allowed!) When I went out, I didn't get a single green signal at any traffic point and none of my work got done. I soon realized, it was just not my day and rushed back home.
There I was; angry, upset, extremely tired, irritable and desperately in need to crash in my favorite chair and listen to some good music. When I entered my room, something bizarre happened that freaked me completely. There was a weirdo on my bed; scattering its legs around the pillows and cushions!! The distance between me and the cold blooded intruder was barely few feet. I became numb with panic while the creepy creature was basking on my bed; unaffected with my presence, bobbing its head, inflating its dewlap, puffing its body and its protruding scary eyes warning me, "Don’t mess with me, babe". It was evident, the Chameleon, had taken over my room and was in no mood to give up its new found fortress.
When it changed its colour and made a surprisingly swift movement towards my dressing table, I shuddered incessantly and with clenched fist and smeared face I yelled (it was not even close to whisper actually)," Simi, run"! But I was too horrified, as if transfixed under some spell. It took me a while to get back to my "Zaansi ki raani" avatar.
I wondered how the Chameleon got in my room and noticed an open window that is closer to the garden. The garden, with huge tress like Asoka, Mango, Badam (Terminalia catappa) Parijat, Frangipani serves as perfect tavern for many a tenements and is a melting pot for many alien creepy crawly empires. I have witnessed so many ongoing scuffles for survival from my bedroom window. Some creatures manage to scamper away before any bird or Chameleon reaches them.
I gathered courage and after a few unsuccessful trials, managed to drive away the Chameleon. I laughed at myself for acting silly and giving myself that harrowing time when I could have easily kept calm and shooed away the creep at the very sight of it. Blame it on a childhood memory of experiencing the horror of watching a lizard tail on the floor, wriggling frantically despite being detached from its body, at a friend's house. Ever since, I go bonkers at the sight of any creepy crawly.
I made myself a nice cup of coffee and went to my favourite spot- the window. The scary creature was on the Badam tree trunk, in a joyous mood as if playing hide and seek with me and saying,"gotcha"! I grabbed my camera and thought of capturing that naughty intruder. When I looked at it, I noticed what a colourful, beautiful creation God had made! I smiled and was happy for the first time during entire day.
